Chapter 85: Bandits’ Territory (Part 1)
"They looked like they had been trained in martial arts," Ye Lingyue commented, also trying to guess where the familiarity had come from.
"Shall I try them..." Ye Lanxi’s murmur was cut by Ye Lingyue’s scolding.
"Second Brother, don’t make trouble or Mother gonna hear about this!" She told him.
Ye Lanxi snorted. "Little snitch."
The merchant caravan had several horse-drawn carriages, making it somewhat appear like a rich merchant caravan, and the rest were ox carts and mule carts.
Currently, the Ye siblings had paid for riding in one of the horse-drawn carriage after they paid one silver tael for each person.
It sounded expensive, because one tael of silver could be a normal family’s expense for a month. However, if they were talking about their current situation, it was actually a cheap price.
The guards hired by the merchant caravan would also be responsible for them. On top of that, the ride also would cover approximately three to four days of journey.
Unfortunately, for the meals, they had to pay extra if they wanted it included. The siblings decided to cook their own meals. One sack of rice was enough and also not that suspicious if they carry it around.
Ye Lingyue also had bought some living chickens from the market this morning; they wanted to use the chickens for breeding and laying the eggs for eating.
"Young Masters, Young Miss, our leader wants to remind you not to open the carriage for the next few hours." One guard suddenly came to tell them this. "It will be dangerous because of the existence of the bandits."
Ye Lanxi and Ye Lingyue glanced at each other, then turned to Ye Lingrui simultaneously. The latter twitched his eye.
"Understood. I will not open the carriage..." he trailed off.
"It is for your safety, please be cautious." After the guard reminded them a few more times—emphasizing the seriousness of the matter—he finally left.
His footsteps grew weaker before they became faint and completely disappeared.
They were currently still making the last preparations before they entered the forest, which also means entering the bandits’ territory.
"Ahem, Third Brother, you should stay in the carriage as you promised him," Ye Lingyue told her twin brother.
Ye Lanxi folded his hands on his chest and nodded.
Not long after, the door to the carriage was knocked and several people went inside. It was a family of three; a pair of parents and their daughter.
They had greeted each other before with simple acknowledgement. However, the siblings could detect that this family didn’t seem to like them that much.
It was probably related to their beggar appearance.
Nevertheless, despite the dirt on their faces and clothes, they actually had a clean smell. Ye Lingrui was making sure of it.
Soon, inside the carriage room became quiet. The carriage jolted, and the sound of horses’ neigh echoed from the outside. The wheels of the carriage moved as the merchant caravan entered the forest.
For the next few hours, it was a smooth journey, and the siblings even took their time to sleep in order to make up for their lack of sleep last night.
Ye Lingyue could faintly hear the family discussing them.
"It’s such a pity we have to ride with a group of beggars. It’s unknown what kind of method they used to make the merchant caravan let them join..." The mother complained.
"They all look so dirty. I can’t even breathe freely because of the smell." Another voice complained, a young female.
"Husband... how about we do something to get them kicked out of here?" The mature female voice sounded again. "Isn’t it nice to have the carriage all to ourselves? We won’t feel too cramper anymore."
"Hush, behave and don’t make trouble." The male voice answered them.
There were no more notable discussions between them after that. The mother complained slightly to her husband, but she also didn’t dare to go against him.
They became quiet again before they discussed other things.
"The guard was so fierce and strict..."
Ye Lingyue didn’t bother to listen anymore.
During the night, their merchant caravan set up a camp and had dinner together. The family of three got their dinner from the caravan while the Ye siblings had to find some wild vegetables first.
"Your family is so pitiful. You all don’t have food to eat, eh? You even have to eat grass from the ground," the young girl mocked them, her eyes full of disdain.
"Do you want me to give you food?" She continued. Her hand tore a small piece of the steamed bun and threw it to the ground.
She stepped on it, then smiled as she told Ye Lingyue. "I am already very kind to be willing to give you some food. Hurry up and eat it like a dirty beggar you are."
It took everything in Ye Lingyue’s every single cell not to grab this arrogant young girl and send her face to the ground so that she could eat it herself.
Ye Lingyue merely glanced at her and continued to eat, her fingers twitching. After a while, she didn’t react much and continued to eat her bowl of rice.
The young girl became angry upon facing Ye Lingyue’s utter disregard. She picked the dirty piece of steamed bun and threw it to Ye Lingyue.
It hit her shoulder.
"Your clothes are already dirty anyway. No one will notice." She snickered at Ye Lingyue.
Ye Lingyue raised her eyebrows, and she picked up the piece of dirty steamed bun from the ground. She tossed it back to the young girl, effectively landing in her mouth.
The young girl widened her eyes, and she immediately coughed the piece of dirty steamed bun, repeatedly washing her mouth with water.
She glared at Ye Lingyue after she was done.
The night was uneventful, and yet, the next day wasn’t easy...
The bandits seemed to have noticed their presence. One or two hours after they departed again, a group of people surrounded the merchant caravan.
And... the carriage door abruptly opened. Ye Lingyue could feel herself suddenly being pushed out of the carriage...